Main menu

FIA boss Bernie Ecclestone says that he is not forcing teams to go to Bahrain for the series' scheduled race there on April 22. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Ecclestone says making call to attend Formula One Bahrain race is up to teams

April 9, 2012

Share

Facebook

Tweet

Pinterest

Email

Bernie Ecclestone has added another dimension to the Bahrain Grand Prix saga by insisting that he cannot force the Formula One teams to attend the event, still scheduled for April 22.

However, he made it clear that competitors are contractually obliged to go, underlining the fact that his statement appears to be an attempt to divert responsibility for any decision away from himself. Clearly the teams themselves are waiting for action from the FIA and Formula One Management.

Tensions have been rising in Bahrain because of both the imminent arrival of the F1 circus and a hunger strike by an imprisoned activist. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was jailed for life after last year's uprising and will be the subject of an appeal to be held the day after the Grand Prix.

On Monday evening, seven police officers were injured when a bomb exploded in a skirmish with protestors. A government spokesman said it was being treated as an act of terrorism.

Despite the obvious concerns of teams, the FIA and the FOM have not yet made any call to cancel or postpone the race.

“We [have] no way we can force people to go there,” Ecclestone told Ian Parkes of Press Association Sport on Tuesday. “We can't say, ‘You've got to go,' although they would be in breach of their agreement with us if they didn't go, but it doesn't help.

“Commercially, they have to go, but whether they decide to or not is up to them. I've had no one say anything other than ‘we're going to be racing in Bahrain.'"

Regarding the prospect of the race being canceled, Ecclestone insisted that the Bahrainis were happy for it to go ahead.

“We're not involved in any of the politics in Bahrain over who is right or wrong. When you go to somebody's country, you have to respect exactly how they run their country and the laws of that country.

“The National Sporting Authority in that country are the people who can say, ‘Well, we think we'd prefer not to run the event'. The promoter [the government] can also say we don't want it because there is too much risk.

“We've an agreement with the FIA that Bahrain is a round of the World Championship, and we've a contract with the promoters, but I want to make clear it's nothing to do with finance.”